Volume 1
Catalogue of Western manuscripts on medicine and science in the Wellcome Historical Medical Library / by S.A.J. Moorat.
- Wellcome Historical Medical Library
- Date:
- 1962-1973
Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Credit: Catalogue of Western manuscripts on medicine and science in the Wellcome Historical Medical Library / by S.A.J. Moorat. Source: Wellcome Collection.
38/698 page 24
![Written in a semi-current humanistic hand, 28 lines to a page. Initials, headings and paragraph marks in red. The ‘ Synonyma’ has an indented Alphabet: ff. 68 v , 69 r contain alchemical signs, within black rules. Fol. i line 25 45, line 20 46, line 5 46 v -50 1. ALFARABI. Liber alchemicus (red) Liber occhani philosophi super scientia alkimica. Et primo de precep / tis generalibus huius artis. / Et notandum quod sunt octo in huius philosophie practica precauenda: et principaliter / obseruanda. Primum est sub dei esse timore . . . [Text begins] (red) De bitumine quo uasa clauduntur. / Bitumen est quedam confectio . . , . . . Qualiter autem te / habere deceat cum scientia et Iusticia. hiis uersibus sequentibus edoceris. // Hic liber breuior melior preceteris extat / Vllo quidem precio thesauri non ualet emi /. . . Femina neque puer nil te uideant operari. / Ex istis semper tam quam ab hoste caue. Finis. / (red) Laus deo. Blank. Fol. 51 68 v 69 69 v ~70 71 75 v 2. ALF ARABI. Synonyma arabico-latina (red) Incipiunt aliqua sinónima philosophorum. / Abara id est Cucurbita. Zegi id est Vitriolum. Below alchemical signs for the metals in 4 columns. Continuation of the Signs in 5 columns. Blank. 3. SEDA CERI US (G.). De vitro (red) Capitulum de uitro secundum Sedecinam: / Vitrum est corpus diaphanum . . . . . . que uie et / qui modus attenduntur penes sapientiam operantis, etc. 4. SEDACERIUS (G.). Quadripartita de lapide philosophico Fol. 76 v 78 v , line 22 no iio v , in (red) Incipit primus liber Quadripartite. / PRimus liber quad ripartite. In nomine domini Incipit prohemium / ad lunificum et solificum magisterium . . . . . . Et primo uidendum / est de Auro, et eius preparatione. / (red) De Auro et eius preparatione / Avrum. secundum latinos uocatur. Sol. . . . . . Ibit vna pars, super, xv / Cupri, ex [sic] exibit album ab igne. Index to the last work, by a late 16th cent, owner, who has also added numerous marginal notes. The first work in this collection is attributed by the original scribe to ‘Occani’. This seems to have been read by the late 16th cent, owner as ‘Occam’; hence on if. i v -6, he has written in the upper margins a running title ‘Liber Golielmi Hocham ’. The work has, however, no connexion with William Ockham or Occam ( d. 1349?), the ‘Doctor invincibilis’, who, as far as can be ascertained, was never interested in Alchemy. In Mrs. Singer’s ‘Catalogue of Latin alchemical MSS.’ the description of No 109 is ‘Alterquinus (? Alfraganus or Farabi) Liber alchemicus in four books’. The details of this correspond very closely with our MS., and a reference to her original source ‘Oxford Bodleian Lib. Canonici Misc.’ 81, ff. 122-211, confirms this. In the latter, the text, as in our MS., is also followed by ‘Synonyma’, though here the correspondence is less exact. A possible explanation of ‘Occani’ may be found in Brockelmann’s ‘Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur’ Supplement, Band I, p. 375, where it is stated that Alfarabi ‘führte er den Ehrennamen al Muällim at-täni’. The last word here could very easily have become ‘ attani ’ or ‘ accani ’ in Latin medieval script.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b20086222_vol_1_0038.JP2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
